This major interdisciplinary conference presented new research on the material and visual culture of the 1916 Rising. Speakers covered topics as diverse as the origins of the tricolor, Celtic Revival dress, the politics of commemoration, displaying 1916 in museums, Volunteer uniforms and prison art.

The Rising was examined from the perspective of visual and material culture, and include scholars from disciplines including archaeology, film studies, history, anthropology, museum studies, art history, literary studies and design history.

In placing material and visual culture centre stage, speakers explored how the spaces, objects and images associated with the Rising are caught up in processes of identity production, being made and re-made over time as changing socio-political conditions generated new understandings of 1916 and its aftermath. It further addressed the ‘things’ of 1916 not as mere illustrations of history, but as having agency and effect on material practices central to contested concepts of identity and the creation of social memory.

Themes addressed included the materialisation of memory; the meaning of place; the creation of national symbols; affective presence; text as material culture; and representing the Rising in art and film.

Convened by Lisa Godson (National College of Art and Design/GradCAM) and Joanna Brück (University College Dublin)

A book based on the conference proceedings will be published by Liverpool University Press in May 2015.